a nice spin-off of Elizabeth Gilbert's book: humorous and relatively well-written. I certainly appreciated it, because, while moderately liking Eat Pray Love, it struck me as a bit too snobbish for my tastes. Another book using a near-identical cover illustration and title to market itself, and then poke fun at it, is exactly the blow to her ego that Gilbert deserved.

The other reviewers are right on another score: this story is a good read in and of itself, even if you've never read Gilbert's work and (bless you) never will. Even so, I don't think I'll keep it on my shelf, because (maybe a bit like it's evil twin) it just isn't that memorable. ( )

A parody of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love, I found this book to be more mildly amusing than laugh out loud hilarious. I wouldn't recommend it unless you've already read Gilbert's book. ( )

If you read Eat, Pray, Love and didn't like it (like me and a few of my friends) then this book is your answer. Without spelling it out for the reader, the author presumes to be the ex-husband of the woman in EPL and tells you of his post-divorce adventure. It was more uplifting, funnier, and truer to life than that "other story" which is silly because EPL is non-fiction and DPF is fiction. I only wish I got to read it right after I finished EPL so I could have compared them closer. ( )

On the cover of Elizabeth Gilbert's mega-bestselling spiritual travel memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, the word eat is spelled out in pasta, the word play in prayer beads, and the word love in flower petals. On the cover of Andrew Gottlieb's parody send-up of that book, the word drink is spelled out in beer bottle caps, play in poker chips, and f@#k in condoms.

When this suspiciously familiar cover caught my eye at B&N the other day, it immediately put a smile on my face. I liked Gilbert's book a lot, but not so much that I couldn't appreciate a well-done parody. And a well-done parody this is.

Gottlieb's faux memoir is written from the perspective of a man who sounds a lot like an ex-Mr. Gilbert, one whose heart has been broken when his "neurotic, self-obsessed wife" of eight years leaves him and immediately begins shacking up with "some guy named David." To recover from this tragedy, he decides to take a year off to go drinking in Ireland, gambling in Vegas, and getting laid in Thailand.

Given the title and the premise, I thought this book might be a much harsher, crueler attack on Gilbert's book than it actually is. While Gottlieb's character Bob Sullivan makes several pointed jabs at his ex-wife, much of the commentary and criticism on the famous book this one mirrors is woven into the story of Sullivan's journey in a surprisingly profound way. Because despite Bob's embracing of a rather unconventional path of "healing," he's actually a sensitive guy, not seeking the kind of oblivion the title might suggest but rather just trying to recover from a broken heart in the best way he knows how. So the book is actually a real story (albeit a rather fantastical one) with a real character, one that I developed a fair amount of affection for along the way.

I found this book in the humor section. It is a funny book, though more in a smile-on-my-face kind of way than in a laugh-out-loud kind of way. Much of the humor for me came from seeing the places in which this story creatively diverged from the original. That's also where much of my admiration for this book came from, as it actually contains a surprising amount of wisdom within its goofy premise. I found his choice to mirror Gilbert's pursuit of spiritual transformation at an Indian guru's ashram with Bob's discovery of Nirvana in Vegas particularly inspired, and I thought it offered a great deal more in the way of practical spiritual philosophy than Gilbert's book does.

So I would recommend this book, although I haven't the slightest idea as to whom. Those who loved Gilberts' book probably won't appreciate its interwoven criticisms. Those who hated it probably won't find it harsh enough, and those who never read it won't get much of the brilliance of its execution. So maybe if you had enough mixed feelings about EPL to give it 3 stars, this book is for you ( )

Absolutely hillarious! A great satire of "Eat, Pray, Love" and just the right read to take the taste of "Eat, Pray..." out of my mouth. A quick read that will keep you laughing. Well worth the time! ( )